Ken
| image = | race = Enlightened | birthday = July 22 | age = | gender = Male | height = 187 cm (6'2") | weight = 78 kg (172 lbs) | blood type = AB | affiliation = Himself | previous affiliation = Seraphim Royal Knights, Order of Darkness, Ken's Army | occupation = Ruler of Firewall | previous occupation = Leader of his Army | team = | previous team = | partner = | previous partner = Shana Winters | base of operations = Excelia, Abyssea, Firewall | myrrh code = Serapha (Tertiary) Anastasia (Secondary) Caladbolg (Primary) | element = Space-Time | affinity = Mar de Grises | overdrive = Axiom Scintillant Stream Millenial Decay }} Ken is the leader of the Order of Darkness and an Enlightened who has lived for more than 2,000 years, and the former Commander of the Aesir Royal Guard (1st Division) and his army. Following the Domination, Ken dedicated his efforts into working towards a plan to end world conflict. Appearance Ken is a tall man with a clean face and stern, piercing blue eyes. He has waist-length blonde hair that he keeps in a ponytail, leaving his hair in bangs that fall forward to frame his face. Reika claims his face is so ordinary and boring that it is easy to forget. He wears gold cross-shaped earrings and a thin necklace with a cross pendant (which is actually a Soul Gem) and a blue and gold officer's coat that reaches his knees. Ken keeps the collar of his coat open, revealing a part of his chest. Several cobalt jewels of varying sizes are attached throughout his attire. On his left shoulder, there are two gold rope-like tassels that hang down to his elbow, with a long white ribbon reaching down to his waist attached to the longer of the two tassels. In addition, he also wears white gloves that have jewels on the back covering his hands. To finish his outfit, Ken dons black leather pants and boots, with the occasional leather straps and belts on his waist, legs and arms. Personality History Plot Former Powers & Abilities Sword Materialization: Ken was able to materialize Caladbolg or Anastasia back in his hands if either was out of his reach. Caladbolg Caladbolg (lit. "hard cleft"): Ken's primary Myrrh Code. Caladbolg is a broadsword with extreme cutting power, and is said to be consecrated by the goddess to oppose Serapha. Simple in design, two protrusions jutting out diagonally on either side form the sword's cross-guard. :Harmony Special Ability: As the sister sword of Serapha, Caladbolg is said to possesses the ability to cut through anything. However, the true meaning of this is that it can specifically sever the magical bonds of anything in an object, allowing the blade to destroy any spiritual defenses. Caladbolg is the only sword able to counter Serapha. If wielded together, the two blades would be able to cut anything. Anastasia Anastasia: Ken's secondary Myrrh Code. Anastasia is nearly identical to Caladbolg, although it is slightly bulkier and longer. Ironically, Anastasia is noticeably weaker than Caladbolg, as noted by Amnell. :Harmony Special Ability: Anastasia is able to produce powerful streams of energy as it swings, in order to artificially extend the reach of the blade and to provide an increase in cutting power. After having Reika use Remission on his weapon, the sword has obtained the magical-severing properties of Caladbolg. Powers & Abilities Master Greatsword Specialist: Master Dual Wield Specialist: Magic Master: Step Master: Serapha Serapha: After discarding Anastasia, Ken obtained Messam's Myrrh Code. Because of Messam's Total Matter Manipulation, the weapon now naturally possesses Haile's Millenial Decay. Harmony Special Ability: Serapha is a magical blade can phase through an object, allowing the blade to bypass armor or shields. Because of this property, Serapha is purely magical, and can only be countered by Caladbolg. Affinity Mar de Grises (lit. "Sea of Greys/Sorrow"): Ken's body glows a bright silver as he aphenes. The light emitted lasts for several seconds before finally dispersing as Ken emerges. As with most Affinities, he gains a set of energy wings that are capable of flight. Ken's energy wings are colored silver, and can be retracted and hidden away. :Affinity Special Ability: Mar de Grises allows control over space-time, effectively giving Ken mastery over the flow of time and the ability to traverse the timelines. Mar de Grises also has a side effect due to the nature of space-time, which amplifies Raven's gravitational fields to an unknown degree should the two be close together. Furthermore, Ken's Affinity allows him to perform two very distinct feats: creating temporal shifts for teleportation and the casting of temporal illusions. :*'Temporal Shifts': By distorting time, Ken is able to select a destination, date, and time, and "teleport" to the selected area at will. The technique does not actually teleport Ken; instead, the ability simply materializes Ken in a specific place of his choosing as if the world was a coordinate plane, and the destination, date, and time all being axes on the plane. Ken has stated there are specific parameters that must be adhered to, however they remain unknown. When possible, Ken favors this ability over Steps. :*'Temporal Illusions': By altering time, Ken is able to create alternate timelines and temporarily integrate them into the real timeline, creating the effect of a false reality. *'Flight Capability': Ken's wings allow him the ability to take flight. While in flight, the wings do not 'flap', instead, they simply act as a sort of throttle to propel him through the air. *'Sword Materialization': Ken is able to materialize Serapha back in his hands if it is out of his reach. Overdrive: Mar de Grises is a temporal Affinity, as such, Ken can drastically alter the flow of battle at his whim. *'Axiom': Axiom allows Ken to manipulate time, in either small increments or very large timelines spanning up to at least 2,000 years. The technique cannot be used to travel forward in time. Mar de Grises is stated by Ken to be one of two Affinities that grant the wielder god-like powers; the other being Messam's Mystic Cross. While Axiom is widely considered to be able to control time, Ken himself admits that the ability more closely resembles the potential to alter "destiny," or the sequence of a series of events in a linear point of view. Axiom is noted to have three major drawbacks, and because of this, Kharsis described Axiom as "the ultimate reward and punishment." :*1) After using the ability, Ken is unable to use it for a period of time, depending on the scale of the alteration that has taken place. Essentially, the more profound and sensational the effects are, the longer Ken must wait to use Axiom again. There is a way to avoid this downside, however, through the use of a Soul Gem. :*2) Upon successfully using the ability, any sensations of everything affected are recorded and immediately inherited by Ken's consciousness. In other words, if Ken were to alter a hundred years of past history, Ken would experience those hundred years in an instant. Ken noted that he intensity of the feelings felt are enough to drive a person insane, and that the long-lasting effects of the technique makes him use the ability sparsely, and even then, in very small time frames. :*3) Once the changes have been "set," and after Ken has used the technique, Ken himself is "trapped" within the frame of time that he has altered. Ken must re-live every moment from the time Ken's use of the ability ended until the current time of Ken using the specific Axiom that was used. While "returning" to the current time, Ken cannot freely act, therefore placing a tremendous psychological strain on Ken, one that Shana claims is enough to break a person's soul. ::To begin the technique, Ken selects any arbitrary moment, and records the exact details of the moment. Ken must then intentionally perceive the same moment as a three-dimensional 'model' instead of a linear timeframe. By achieving this transcendental state, Axiom then can interact, construct or otherwise alter the spacial 'model' in any way. Ken is able to manipulate the moments he has imagined in any way, and for as long as he likes, insofar as the ability is active. Furthermore, he is able to manipulate as many events as he pleases given he perceives the exact 'models' for each. Ken can also perform multiple instances of Axiom within each one casted, potentially stacking the scenarios or otherwise create a chain of events that were not originally connected. The instant the ability is used, the flow of time for Ken is under his control, and the people affected do not even perceive the alteration (as the ability's activation stops time initially). The mechanics behind the ability itself is very primitive in design; Axiom '''simply creates alternate timelines and simply allows him to select and corporate himself into any one. This very complex technique allows Ken to manipulate events in order to expedite the most desirable outcome of one or more scenarios. When Ken ends '''Axiom, all the timelines that he created collapse into a single one, and the new timeline adopts the changes, but only if they are theoretically possible. ::Regarding death, Axiom is unable to resurrect the dead if the deceased is already gone at the time of the use of Axiom. For example, if Person A is killed by Person B, and Ken uses Axiom 'to return to the moment where A is about to be killed, B will always succeed in killing A. If Ken attempts to subvert B's actions in any way before B can kill A, Ken will, through a sequence of uncontrollable events, cause the death of A. This effect is regarded as a ''Correction by Ken, where the universe adjusts for a paradox in time. This concept places severe limitations on what Ken can and can't change through '''Axiom. The key to using the ability effectively relies on a complete understanding of any given situation, and being able to see the consequences of actions that can be taken before they actually are. *'Scintillant Stream': *'Millenial Decay': Due to the effects of Total Matter Manipulation, Serapha now possesses the abilities of Haile's Affinity, although it is now considered to be an extension of Ken's Overdrive. :*'Scourge': Ken is able to materialize bubbling tendrils of poison from Serapha. The poison from this ability possesses acidic properties; it can disintegrate almost all substances in a matter of moments. When used in a manner that does not physically materialize the poison, it destroys the body at the molecular level. Trivia *''Mar de Grises'' is Spanish for "Sea of Greys," however, the color grey in Spanish is the color of sorrow as blue is in English. Therefore, "Sea of Sorrow" is a more appropriate translation. **This meaning is much more accurate given Ken's character and the details of his Overdrive, Axiom. *Ken is the only character to possess two Myrrh Codes; both Raven and Kharsis' Myrrh Codes are considered a single one, whereas Caladbolg and Anastasia are separate from each other. **Additionally, Ken is the only character to eventually possess three different Myrrh Codes by the end of the series. *Ken's theme song, as chosen by the author, is "Mired" by Forest Stream. Quotes *(To Luca Blite) "How troublesome. Don’t make me go through the effort to swing my sword twice on the likes of you." *(To Amnell Azplynd, when asked if he thinks can cut him) "I don’t think about whether I can. Because I already have." *(To Amnell Azplynd) "Your eyes, they hold many questions. You wish to ask who we are. And yet you have already realised that we will give you no answer to that question. It should not be so difficult for you to deduce the answer for yourself. Farewell, Amnell the Miracle Worker." *(To Amnell Azplynd) "The last time we met, you asked me a question in the spectrum of your mind. It is time for us to tell you the answer you have so long awaited. We are the emissaries of God. And we are not a force that can be defeated by you Unenlightened. Take heed, fools, as heretofore your act is foolish." *(To Messam St. Evremond) "It's meaningless to argue what's special. If a single swing makes one disappear, then three more swings will make that specialness disappear!" Influence *''Caladbolg'' is thought to be a source or analogue of 's sword , which in early is called Caledfwlch. *''Anastasia'' is a girl's name of Greek origin. It means "resurrection" or "she who shall rise up again." Anastasia is best known as the name of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, daughter of Czar Nicholas II. According to legend, she survived the murder of the Russian imperial family by the Bolsheviks and continued to live on afterwards. *A seraph is a type of celestial or heavenly being in the Abrahamic religions. Literally "burning ones", the word seraph is normally a synonym for serpents when used in the Hebrew Bible. Battles & Events